Jump to content

ed_sawyer

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    92

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by ed_sawyer

    Removing bayonet ring on RZ 37mm??

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>Mamiya USA will send you the parts diagram and sell you the part. I have taken these lenses apart a fair bit, they are not that bad to work on. There should be 3 radial screws under the rubber grip that covers the rear bayonet ring. Remove the rubber part and unscrew those and the rear bayonet ring should come off, I believe.<br>

    Good luck, it's a great lens and would be a shame to not use it. <br>

    <br />Ed</p>

    Mamiya RZ lens problem

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>Often times it's a simple fix of tightening a spanner ring somewhere. Most of the RZ lenses have what's called a "main fixing nut" that is a spanner nut, holding the front cell and barrel to the shutter assy and main part of the barrel. If you are handy, these are fairly easy lenses to work on. I've had several apart for minor fixes and they are pretty logical. Mamiya USA is helpful supplying parts and diagrams for service needs. Sometimes a lens with minor looseness can be had for a serious bargain. I got a near-mint 140 M/L-A and 250APO that way, for hundreds less than the normal going rate.</p>

    <p>that said, most of the RZ glass can be had w/o much trouble, they all seem available most of the time on ebay and elsewhere.</p>

    <p>good luck<br>

    -Ed</p>

     

    I want to build a 6x6 camera around this lens - any ideas?

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>imax projector lens sounds reasonable. 8x10? LOL it will never come close to covering that, no way, no how. </p>

    <p>an interesting lens to be sure, and a deal if you can resell it to someone needing an imax lens, but as a camera lens, there's better solutions. (RZ67 with 37mm fisheye for example). It doesn't look like it's designed for capturing images, there appears to be no internal blackening of the barrel, also hard to tell but it doesn't look like it has multicoating on it... </p>

    <p> </p>

    A new 'Jobo CPP3,' in time for Xmas?

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    <p>The main thing people want is more accessories and spare parts for existing units. The Jobo line is pretty failure prone, and there's tons of them out there (used ones) w/o enough spare parts to keep them all running. I think most film users that have or want a jobo have one already, and probably don't give a fig about a new jobo product (esp. at $2500+). But I expect they might care a lot about new spare parts.</p>

    <p>For most uses, there's better products. For film-only, the Phototherm SSK-4 or SSK8 kicks any Jobos ass up and down the street. It doesn't do prints but does everything else up to 4x5 (or 8x10 with some customization) far better and faster than a jobo.</p>

    <p>For color prints, any good print processor will beat using a jobo and doing one or two prints at a time. Throughput of something like a fujimoto CP-31 will run rings around a jobo for RA4 prints, and is better built, and still supported by spare parts.</p>

    <p>-Ed</p>

    Close focusing with Medium Format

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>The Mamiya 7 does have a close-up adapter that allows close focusing at a fixed distance of about 16 inches or so. It's fairly limiting for close-ups, but better than nothing.</p>

    <p>Best solution: get an RZ67 system to complement the m7 for portraits/closeups/long distance shots.</p>

    Manuals - CP31 Dryer and Replenisher

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    <p>Matt, I have the manuals but I believe there are sources online. I will look around and scan/copy if need be. These are still supported, there's a guy that works for the company that supports/imports them who posts on APUG.org regularly. I will see if I can dig up the info. They likely would send you manuals if need be, they've sent me parts diagrams in the past.<br>

    Good luck, its' a great unit! I have 2 of them, complete with dryer and replenishment unit.<br>

    Basically the dryer just is synced to the main unit via the din-plug cord, and coupled via the flexible connector. It wants a water supply (not too high pressure) and a drain. I run mine with a pump and recirculation since I don't have a drain/supply set up at the moment.<br>

    The replenisher wants a sync connection the same way, and has 3 input/output lines for the 3 pumps. There's a manual switch for it too and an adjustable potentiometer inside to set replenishment rates. for RA-4 running mostly 8x10s I have mine set to 2 (out of 7) on the dial and it works fine that way. no more higher setting needed, I don't think.<br>

    Enjoy,<br>

    -Ed</p>

    <p> </p>

    Difference between Mamiya RZ67 Pro and Pro II backs

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>The Pro backs are actually better built than the Pro II backs. Cheaper plastic door and other parts on the Pro II are metal on the Pro backs. Though they have light seals, they dont' seem to fail the way most foam seals might, I have Pro backs from quite a long time back and work fine on the orignal seals, no leakage or crumbling.</p>

    <p>-Ed</p>

     

    MAMIYA APO-SEKOR Z 250/4.5

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>John-<br>

    Good to hear you have the 65 L/A also. Indeed, using the floating element correctly leads to amazing sharpness, well into the deepest corners of the frame.<br>

    I too enjoy taking and shooting the RZ as my primary camera whenever possible. It's a fun beast to bring out and surprise people with it (most non-photo-geeks have never seen anything like it. ;-). I find it really versatile and take it anywhere and everywhere. It's not bad at all for hand-held shooting either, that's how I use it nearly all the time. Even with the big APOs it's doable.<br>

    The used prices on the APO and other RZ lenses is almost criminally cheap. These were all $2-4k+ lenses when new a few years ago, now they can be had for almost pennies on the dollar, really. Like 10% of original cost sometimes. Can't beat that! Esp. compared to EOS and other 35mm lenses. </p>

    <p>-Ed</p>

    MAMIYA APO-SEKOR Z 250/4.5

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>Congrats John! Nice work.<br>

    Yes, the 250 APO is a stunning lens. All the APOs are really. The 50 ULD as mentioned is also a fantastic lens. If you dont' have the 65 L/A, I'd recommend that one too, it's as good as the APOs, believe it or not - uber sharp. <br>

    -Ed</p>

    PRO back on a PROII

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>The build quality of the Pro backs is actually better than the Pro II. More metal (the door, which is metal on Pro, but plastic on Pro II) and overall quality in general is better on the pro (I) back. The grippy areas on the Pro I back is better than on the Pro II also. </p>

    <p>The Pro I has foam(?) light seals, while the Pro II backs use a different method w/o foam. That said the foam seems to last forever on the I backs, I haven't had to replace it yet on mine.</p>

    <p>-Ed</p>

     

    Jobo unit conundrum

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    <p>The ATL-1000 or 1500 are the best of the Jobos, but be prepared to overpay for them.Even then you are stuck with an orphaned product, no service/parts available (or hard to come by if so), etc.<br>

    A thoroughly better choice is the Photo-therm Super Sidekick SSK4 or SSK8. Better than the Jobos, more reasonably priced used, made in the USA (!), still in business, has a nice 4x5 solution, etc. It doesn't do prints but it does everything you could ever want with film and then some.</p>

    <p>-Ed</p>

     

×
×
  • Create New...